


A Silver Lining

by MK_Yujji



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: M/M, a/b/o (sort of)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 11:18:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3118220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MK_Yujji/pseuds/MK_Yujji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not a good situation, but Will would be lying if he said he couldn't see the silver lining in it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Silver Lining

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for kenshincha during the happy_trekmas exchange.  
> I know that a/b/o fics follow a certain formula that I kind of tossed out the window. This fic assumes that a/b/o dynamics were more stereotypical in the past and that the Federation abolished the inequality of it.

“This is outrageous,” Jean-Luc muttered under his breath as he stalked into his ready room. He slammed down into his chair with the kind of controlled anger that he rarely allowed himself to display.

Will followed at a more sedate pace, waving Deanna off at the door. Their captain had every right to be upset, but Will didn’t think he needed or wanted an audience for it. Star Fleet was good about screening out people with the potential for omega bias, but the casual mentality that omegas were prone to emotional instability was still more prevalent than not.

It wasn’t a mentality that most people correlated with Jean-Luc, though, and Will preferred to keep it that way. It had taken years to get his Captain comfortable enough to relax the rigid emotional control he was known for. If those barriers went back up, he wasn’t sure if they’d ever come down again.

He settled into his usual seat across the desk from Jean-Luc. “You know that the crew will support any decision you make, Captain..” 

Star Fleet might not, though, and they both knew it. Abandoning their humanitarian mission and allowing thousands of people to die because the planet was full of sexist, classist genists probably wouldn’t go over too well with the brass.

Sighing, Jean-Luc pressed his fingers to his temple and closed his eyes. “No. I won’t punish an entire population for having poor taste in elected officials.” 

Before Will could reply, Picard’s desk comm chimed. He reached over to answer and Beverly’s face appeared on the screen, a sour expression marring her usually serene features. “Jean-Luc.”

“Beverly.”

“I don’t like their demands, but I have qualified male staff that go planet-side to administer medicines and vaccines. I can’t guarantee that they’ll have their best bedside manners in attendance, but..” She shrugged, not looking very apologetic at the idea that her staff might make their patients suffer in small ways for their small-mindedness.

It said something about how bothered Jean-Luc had actually been that he didn’t mention it. He simply nodded. “I’m sorry, Beverly.”

The doctor shrugged. “It’s not the first time I’ve dealt with sexism, Jean-Luc. It doesn’t happen often, thankfully, but you get out on these pocket rocks and people start to lose their minds.” Her lips quirked into a small grin. “There are studies that prove it.”

Will couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the slang. ‘Pocket rocks’ wasn’t something often heard outside of drunken enlisted bars. 

“I’m sure there are,” Jean-Luc replied, relaxing as he settled back in his chair. “Thank you, Beverly. Have them prepared to go down with beta shift.”

She dipped her head and the screen went dark again.

“Well,” Will said, crossing his legs and leaning back. “That’s one of their demands met.”

“She shouldn’t have to do that.”

Prejudice had always rubbed Jean-Luc the wrong way, but this particular colony had managed to hit multiple buttons all at once. 

Frankly, Will would have liked to have been face to face when the demands were issued. He didn’t mind playing up the hotheaded alpha stereotype on occasion. He definitely could have gotten at least one good punch out of it.

“No, she shouldn’t have to. But deconstructing social constructs takes more time than that plague is going to give these people.”

It wasn’t that he thought Jean-Luc had forgotten that, but sometimes it was his job as second in command to repeat the obvious things. 

Picard’s mouth twisted slightly in aggravation, though he nodded. “Their other demand will be more difficult.”

If they’d known they were heading straight into a colony of bigots, they could have planned around it. Will could have made sure he was the one who went down to the planet to meet the dignitaries, Beverly could have sent people in her stead. 

It still would have stung that it was even an issue, but it could have been handled. 

Instead, the captain and doctor had walked unprepared right into a diplomatic mess surrounded by people who hated them for who they were. 

The colony refused to deal with a woman or an unbonded omega in any sort of position of power. At the same time, they refused to deal with anyone of lower rank than the Captain.

Their vitriol had been nasty and petty, the likes of which should have vanished entirely centuries before. That it had flourished on the isolated colony made Will despair for humanity. 

It also made him feel guilty for the suggestion he’d been wanting to make ever since the away party had returned to the ship with a deadline to become ‘acceptable’.

He hesitated a moment longer, then shrugged. Maybe it was too close to something he wanted to be anything other than manipulation, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a viable option. “We could always form a temporary bond.”

Picard’s look was incredulous. “Will-“

“No, seriously,” he shrugged. “It would work. They’d get their bonded Captain, we could get away from this rock, we break the bond as soon as the missions over. No harm, no foul.”

“You’ve never been bonded before, have you?” Picard’s voice was wry. 

“You know that I haven’t.”

The only person he’d ever been close enough to that he’d even wanted to consider bonding with was Deanna and alpha/omega bonding was a strictly human condition. Half-Betazoid was still Betazoid enough that Deanna would never be able to fully bond with an alpha human. 

Jean-Luc sighed. “Will, bond drop is one of the most agonizing things you can ever go through. Physically it isn’t all that different than simple withdrawal. Mentally and emotionally, it’s a great deal worse. And the scars it leaves never really go away. I swore a very long time ago that I would never put myself through it again.”

“Then we leave it.” 

“Will, I can’t allow you to-“

“This isn’t me being self-sacrificing, Jean-Luc. Being bonded to you wouldn’t be some kind of hardship for me.” He met the other man’s gaze steadily. He needed Jean-Luc to understand exactly what he was offering and how very serious he was about it. “I’ve thought about it before, but I know how you feel about bonding. So I left it. And it probably says bad things about me that I’m willing to take advantage of a situation like this, but I have to offer it up as an option. If you want to leave or if you have some other solution, then that’s fine. I told you, we’ll all support it. But if bonding to placate these people is what you decide, then I want you to choose me.”

It looked like Jean-Luc was at a complete loss for words - a rarity that Will would have teased him about in pretty much any other situation. Not about this. He wanted this. And maybe it made him a horrible person, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to stand it if he had to sit back and watch Jean-Luc bond with anyone else.

“I have nothing but the greatest admiration and respect for you and you know that I would never use the bond to try and control you. I think that we could be good together, if you were willing to give us the chance.”

“Will…”

Will took a deep breath and leaned forward, laying a hand across the desk. “Jean-Luc Picard. It would be my greatest honor if you would accept me as your bond mate.”

For a long minute, he hardly dared to breathe as Jean-Luc just stared at him, eyes narrowed as he searched Will’s face. Then he reached out and placed his own hand in Will’s.

He knew that he was grinning like an idiot, but there was a faint smile on Jean-Luc's lips, so he couldn't really bring himself to care. 

It was enough to give him hope.

~*~*~  
fin


End file.
